The school is going to have me taking clients this week. This is what I've done in the last month (I have about 4 months left I think) I've been in nail tech school:

1 set of wraps with french tips
1 set of acrylic with tips (with polish over them)
1 set of gels with french tips
No maintenance on any

I've done about 10 water manicures, that I have no issues with. I'm still iffy with the nippers. I pretty much avoid using them at all cost.

I've played with the odorless acrylic more than gel. I practice on my nail trainer. I've done an overlay on myself with IBD builder gel on one hand and nailite soak off on all hands with tips and polish (it was not done very well I can tell you that much).

I guess I'm just really nervous. The school is in a small, older town with lots of elderly people. I know it's going to be a challenge because I've seen the state of their nails and toenails and it's a little frightening. I think I'll probably end up doing a lot of water and french polish manicures and I'm afraid I'm not going to get enough experience with the acrylic in order to do a good job. This odorless business is killing me. I can't seem to get my ratios right them I go to practice with the traditional stuff and it's a whole different ball game.

Should I focus on the odorless or traditional? I'll have to put the odorless on clients and students at the school but I know I probably won't use it again after I'm done.

Ok,
what is the problem???? You did great work and better than some nail tech's that have been licensed for years. The only thing that i do different is polish closer to the cuticle.
You will be fine. Practice the nippers on yourself first.

I agree with sillysoup, you look like you're doing pretty good! The one thing that jumped out at me was the white tips on the wraps. You've got the 'ears' of the tips extending out too far. If those were on a client, I can quarantee you that they'll be lifting in that spot in about a week or less. Make sure your tip edges only go to the edge of the nail and no further. Use your file to make corrections on the shape of the tip.

The other stuff looks really good, practice will help any issues you've got along with what you're doing right here, asking for help. You won't get much help on that stuff in school unless you've gotten really lucky and have a great teacher who knows how to do nails. Pick our brains, that's what we're here for!

I really like your IBD gels !!! You are going to be a natural at those. Great job. I agree with Donna about the others. I just have to say though, you are doing so much better than I did at the same stage you're at. I would stick with the odorless until you're done, then you can practice the traditional and take some more classes in that if you get a chance (or find a really good mentor who will help you with that).

Perhaps you think you should be further along by now but honestly, you are doing really well

Yes for somebody with so little experience it looks like you're going to do really well!!! For real, just keep practicing and troubleshooting, and being confident in your work will help too. Good luck!!

Agree with everything everyone has already said. For still being in school ya are doing quite well, hun. IMO the first pic of the odorless acrylic look a little thick and watch your ears on your pink/whites. When doing tips on fiberglass make sure your tips fit from sidewall to sidewall, but as someone already said ya can file those if for some reason the tips aren't fitting perfectly. Like your color selection on the flame nails, very trendy!

Ask some of your friends and family to let ya practice on them. As long as ya don't charge them for your services ya aren't violating any regs. That way ya can get lots of practice. Keep up the good work!

Thanks for the feedback! In just the last couple days I've been applying the acrylic a lot thinner. I noticed it was too thick. The thing that sucks is that I don't get shown how to use it at school. =/ I'm just left on my own (I'm the only nail tech student, everyone else is around 17 doing the cosmo program along with high school.

Wish I knew some people to work on. I'm new to the area and haven't made any friends yet.

(10-16-2012, 01:39 AM)Melissa82 Wrote: Thanks for the feedback! In just the last couple days I've been applying the acrylic a lot thinner. I noticed it was too thick. The thing that sucks is that I don't get shown how to use it at school. =/ I'm just left on my own (I'm the only nail tech student, everyone else is around 17 doing the cosmo program along with high school.

Wish I knew some people to work on. I'm new to the area and haven't made any friends yet.

That is great, hun! You are doing great! You can definitely practice on some students, if the school will let ya. Trial and error is a great way to learn, also. Have ya watched some Youtube videos? And most manufacturer's have video's on their websites. Keep up the great work!

I want to echo what others have said: You are well on your way to being a good nail tech! Good work! You've already gotten good feedback here on technique, so here are a few other things I'd like to add to help:
1. Hate to say it, but don't approach cosmo school with the intent of learning "skill", but rather to pass your state boards. With that in mind, focus on following the steps, sanitation, theory, etc. We're here to help you get your skills up!
2. For acrylic, product ratio & consistency is SOOOO important, but was the one thing I practically heard NOTHING about in school. It wasn't until I'd had my license for about a year before I ran into a Lynn Lammers video tutorial...and then was hooked on tutorials that teach product consistency. NSI had a good video tutorial on this too, on their website.
3. To get practice on sculpts, here's what I did:

- get some forms, not expensive ones. You can get a roll for $5 in some places.
- put the form on the handle of a nail polish bottle.
- practice! You can practice pink & whites, single color, one-ball method...whatever you like!
- Just peel the form and nail right off the handle. Wipe the handle with alcohol and good to go again.

HTH...
BTW...the reason I mentioned product ratio and consistency is that once you truly understand what this means, you can use any -- and I do mean ANY -- acrylic brand and get it to produce a good nail. There is no "magic" to acrylic brands. I've asked many a question on this site wondering "what's the best brand of acrylic?" but once I understood consistency, application was no longer a factor in my preferred acrylic choice because I can work it all the same. Other things become more important (set time, price, colors, yellowing...)

Jeanne - New You Nail Gallery
Detroit, MI

"The MIND, once stretched by the IMAGINATION, never regains its original form"

Thank you again everyone! I really appreciate you taking the time to add your wisdom and insight.

Yes, ratio is sooo important and it finally clicked with me and the odorless the other day. Just out of nowhere I tweaked a few things and it worked a lot better. I angled my brush at 90 degrees and made sure to tap the container to make sure the acrylic powder had a smooth surface for me to pull the brush through. It allowed me to get a better ratio with no clumping.

My teacher is pretty great. We are trying to get some Light Elegance gels to work with since I told her I really want to get in to them. She spoke with the school owner and liked what she heard about them and is going to set us up. My teacher is going to try and get 10 prior students together so LE will send over an educator to teach us a class. I'm the only student right now.

I just passed my floor test and can take clients now. My teacher said I'm doing really well for how long I've been at this for. I'm hoping that it picks up here, not many people come in for nails since they rarely have nail tech's in training.

Thanks! I had my first paying client at the school today. It was a student. She wanted gels with tips (only my second full set). They have China Glaze polish and anchor nail art. She is going to be a sailor for Halloween. Took me 3 hours but I was happy with the outcome. Still have a ways to go.

Ok, so school is stressing the poop out of me. So much high school drama and no clients. I keep asking and telling people I'll do their nails for free at home but I guess I don't know anyone, lol. Here's some things I've done recently:

First sculpted pink and white from last week using odorless acrylic

Another opi clarite pink and white. That white shadow on the nail bed is from the nail I reused so pretend it's not there lol.

Thanks everyone. I did my first set of acrylics on myself a couple days ago in an almond shape. I sculpted them longer than I wanted but it turns out I am managing just fine with them. I guess it's because they don't have corners to catch on everything. They are a bit thick but I guess I can file them down as they grow out.

(10-16-2012, 01:39 AM)Melissa82 Wrote: Thanks for the feedback! In just the last couple days I've been applying the acrylic a lot thinner. I noticed it was too thick. The thing that sucks is that I don't get shown how to use it at school. =/ I'm just left on my own (I'm the only nail tech student, everyone else is around 17 doing the cosmo program along with high school.

Wish I knew some people to work on. I'm new to the area and haven't made any friends yet.

Hi there, I'm new to it all as well but from what I can see you are doing great!
Just a suggestion about getting practice but not knowing many people, what about advertising on the internet for your area? By that I mean in our nail school we put ads on the new/used buying sites in our area saying that we need practice models for nails for free of charge (you could also just have a reduced price to start if you don't want to do free). I'm not sure where you live but I am in Canada and we have Kijiji and Used sites similar to Craigs List that you can post this kind of stuff on.
Just a thought!